I will always protect you
by smores2946
Summary: Poison is lethal, and without proper care deadly, can she be saved?


**Hi guys! so this is my very first story.. like ever! it's NEJITEN obviously and just to say i adore them so yeah!**

**P.S. Neji is still alive to me! HE WILL COME BACK!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters belong to Kishimoto (unfortunately..)**

Poison

The forest was eerily silent at this twilight hour, no sticaata, no crickets, no breeze, no anything, it was like time had been paused for the duel taking place, a man stood tall, broad shoulder and well muscled, his tan rogue face only enhanced the handsomeness of his features. His sharp green eyes studied his dark surroundings, dressed in all black he blended quite well with the black blanket set over the Earth. In his right hand a glimmering katana, that threatened any by its simple look and even by its very wielder to not come near. A soft rustle to his left suddenly caught his attention, he dropped to the floor and rolled to the side, than quickly stood and jumped in the air bringing down his katana with a slight whizz as it cut through the air intent on meeting its target in the bush. The Katana cut half a foot into the soft ground with, nothing. The man growled in annoyance while taking the weapon out of the dirt, he turned to see several senbon sticking out from the ground where he once stood. He wasn't fooled, someone was definitely there. He walked over to the area and, with a gloved hand, picked up one of the deadly needles. He began to examine it, _'what poison was so deadly in these senbon that_,' he looked down wearily _'even caused the grass to brown in death..' _Still in his crouched position he suddenly turned and brought the katana up to his face deflecting three senbon aimed for his face, he back flipped over the senbon patch and stood up right In a ready position to fight.

"show yourself! Only cowards hide!" to his surprise, out of the shadows appeared a deformed man, he was crouched over with a disgusting hump back, that the green cloak that he wore could hardly cover. He wore a large bamboo hat that only let him see the mans maniacal smile he spoke.

"Toshiko, it's been too long"

The man named Toshiko raised his Katana "who are you? And how do you know me?"

"my names not important, but yours is, you're the famous blacksmith with an impeccable aim,"

Toshiko remained silent for a moment "i never miss"

"ah yes, you never do, do you? But ill be honest your skill is quite the nuisance"

He became wary of the hunched man and took a defensive stance "state your business with me"

He ignored his statement "but what would happen if all that skill was taken from you day by day, bit by bit, and you could do nothing to help yourself..."

"state your business!"

"first your muscles ,those would be affected, then stamina.." the man took a step forward

Toshiko held his ground "not another move"

"then your blood would start to go against you, along with other grueling things that I'd rather not go into detail about, but.." he looked up and Toshiko faltered at the insane wide-eyed look the man gave him, he only had whites, there was no pupil no iris, no anything "a child will bear the burden of this poison"

Toshiko blinked _'what?'_ he wasn't married

"yes, a child and that child would suffer the same fate, dying little by little, day by day" Toshiko began to shake with fury "a slow, painful, death" he took a step forward and Toshiko didn't hesitate in disappearing one moment and then suddenly reappearing in front of the insane lunatic, he brought his Katana down to slice through the man, but instead he only ripped through an empty green cloak, his eyes widened in shock, yet before he could turn around a sharp pain was sent up his spine multiple times. He collapsed to the floor convulsing violently with foam coming from his mouth before he suddenly ceased and layed on the floor unconscious.

Toshiko awoke once again to a bright light, he groaned in disapproval but soon adjusted, _'what happened' _he heard a noise, he looked to his side to see his love, Maya, standing in the doorway with tears streaming down her face and a look of relief and shock, she quickly ran over to him.

"Toshiko I thought you'd never wake up!" she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace, he smiled as he brought his arms around her and took in her green apple scent, while listening to her steady heartbeat. Once he had calmed her down he asked the question that had been on his mind

"what happened?"

She bit her lip "some ANBU went looking for you and they just found you laying on the forest floor with what seemed to be puncture wounds in your back"

"puncture wounds?"

Her face became serious "yes, they thought that they were from senbon, but they checked your system and found no poison" she smiled at him warmly " im just so glad your okay" she once again brought him into an embrace a sudden wave of fear came over him,

'_what about that poison the old man talked about? Was he truly bluffing? Or is it hiding in my system?'_ He chose to stay quiet and not tell anything to anyone.

Two years later he and Maya were wed and had a child a beautiful baby girl with dark brown hair like her father and dark chocolate eyes like her mother, she was rambunctious and happy, she had also adapted her fathers skill in the ninja art and his incredible aim, but she was also kind-hearted and loving, this little girls name was Tenten. In a few years time, after becoming an orphan at just 4 years old, her life would end, fate expected it.

* * *

13 years later

A 17-year-old woman covered in sweat was sparring with a tall, older man who wore a green jump suit with a green vest and orange leg warmers with blue ninja sandals, around his waist was a forehead protector with a logo of the hidden leaf, he had a strange bowl cut and bushy eye brows, and even though he was slightly sweating he kept an enthusiastic smile

"that's it Tenten! Be relentless, yet mindful of your opponent" she was near a tree as he swung a leg out to connect with her side, but at the last-minute she jumped up using his own shoulders as a base to push herself off into a back flip to slide back a bit as she landed on her feet a little ways off from the man. His leg made contact with a tree snapping it right in half and knocking the thing down. He whirled around to face her, the smile still on his face. This was Gai Sensei.

A little ways off two men stood watching intently, one was practically a miniature double of the man sparring with Tenten while the other was completely different. He wore white robes with the forehead protector on his forehead and gray ninja sandals , while his long brown hair was tied at the end with a white tie. His eyes were a unique milky white

"that is it dear Tenten!" His companion hollard "fight with all your might! Inner strength!"

"Lee, must you be so loud?"

"yosh! I must show encouragement to my fellow team-mate!" their attention was brought back when they heard an undignified shriek. Tenten had slid to the ground avoiding a throw of shuriken

"i thought you said no ninja tools!" when suddenly Gai appeared in front of her, ready to deliver a finishing blow, a full powered ax kick, but Tenten reacted quick, she rolled to the side to avoid it and stopped when she saw the decent sized crater with where she once layed "are you trying to kill me?!" she quickly jumped to her feet and began to rapidly dodge Her sensei's punches and kicks

"always" she ducked as he swung at her "expect" she back flipped once again at a swipe he made at her "the unexpected!" she brought her foot up and made direct contact with Gai's chest, but in a poof of smoke he was gone and the only thing left was a log, she blinked a few times

"what?!" suddenly she felt something coming and turned her head and then jerked her head more to the side feeling the kunai whizz just past her cheek. She heard the solid thump of it making contact with the tree behind her.

In a puff of smoke Gai sensei appeared in front of her once again, with that same stupid grin on his face, she growled in her throat. "Very good Tenten! You've improved greatly in your hand to hand combat!" Neji and Lee began to walk over

"where did you get those shuriken and kunai! I thought we took them off?"

" I swiped some of yours when you weren't looking!"

She gaped _'what?!'_ she ran over to the shuriken and bent over sightly to get a better look, and he was right, they were hers. She hung her head while muttering curses, she began to pick up the shuriken. Gai in the meantime laughed boisterously as Lee admired him. Neji only rolled his eyes in annoyance and watched Tenten silently as she walked over to the large tree to retrieve her last possession, the moment she touched the cool metal, she froze. She stood there, her arm stiff, unmoving, she tried to bend her arm, but she couldn't _'what the hell?' i_t felt as if something was locking her joints, but she didn't understand how, after a few more minutes of struggling, she was able to move and jerked the kunai from the tree stumbling back slightly. She stared warily at the tool then at the hole, _'it wasn't deep enough nor thrown hard enough to have been stuck..' _she turned to look at her team mates and saw Lee and Gai talking while Neji had his eyes closed with his arms crossed _'maybe im just tired'_ she walked to the grass where her pack was laying. As she passed, Neji eyed her, he had seen the whole thing. He was even questioning what happened, even after they had said their good byes and left that evening to meet up tomorrow, even that night as he layed in bed he thought of her. Tenten sat silently on her bed in her small apartment, she stared at her hand and began to clench and unclench it suddenly, in the middle of creating a fist, it happened again, it got stuck and she couldn't move it no matter how hard she tried, it would burn painfully when she struggled, after a few minutes she could move it again. She was in shocked silence _' maybe I overworked myself today'_ she slid under her covers,_ 'I'll sleep this off.'_

* * *

The next day, near the end of their training, Tenten felt exhausted, they still had two hours left, and yet since she first became a ninja she had never felt this tired.

_'what's wrong with me? I can usually last a whole session without a problem, I haven't felt like this in years..'_ she stood up straight, suddenly feeling a piercing gaze going in to her, she knew who it was but she wouldn't look at him, _'no that ll only confirm his suspicions'_. Neji watched her silently as he sat under the tree, he was interrupted when he heard her heavy breathing even over Lee and Gai's fighting. He knew Tenten didn't get worn out easily, this was unlike her, he raised an eyebrow as she suddenly righted herself and walked near a tree with a strained calmness, like she was trying to hide the fact that she was tired or fatigued. He soon closed his eyes listening to her as she began to throw kunai at the red and white target, each meeting its desired target, one **THUNK **two **THUNK** three** THUNK** four **THUNK **five **THUNK** six... he didn't hear the usual thunk he snapped his eyes open and was surprised to see Tenten's arm frozen in the middle of her arc to throw the kunai in her hand, he watched the way shock, fear, anger, than panic passed through her face in quick succession, he silently watched as it seemed she was trying to move her arm, but it appeared as if it was locked?

suddenly Lee walked up to her _'they must have finished their spar'_

Lee approached Tenten, _'great out of all the fucking times and places this had to happen it had to be here and now'_

"Tenten my youthful blossom are you well? Is your arm alright?" "oh yeah Lee!" at that moment her arm ceased locking and fell by her side limply again but her hand wasn't the same circumstance, so she quickly grabbed it and held it behind her back.

"My muscles have just been acting up lately, a little sore or overworked I guess..."

Lee smiled at her "that's wonderful news! it means you are working hard and making improvement! But my muscles do not ache! I must run 5,000 laps around the village until I feel this pain!" and in a cloud of dust he was gone.

Gai began laughing as his apprentice left "THAT'S MY BOY LEE! I SHALL JOIN YOU!"

"GAI SENSEI!" they both ran as they cried tears of joy into the sunset. Tenten sweat dropped, but then sighed, she brought her hand back so she could look at it, it was still holding the kunai and would not let go,

_'it's never done this for so long...what if-' _she was interrupted as she felt that piercing gaze cut right through her again, and this time she couldn't resist turning around.

When she did Neji stood there underneath the tree with a heated gaze set on her, she involuntarily shivered at the intensity of it, she had always secretly harbored strong feelings for the genius, but she found it a hopeless cause, so she took advantage of the much time they did spend together, yet at the moment she was hating it. He began to approach her and Tenten had to resist the urge to take steps back. He finally stood in front her looking down at her while she looked up at him. He continued watching her while he reached down and grabbed her paralyzed hand, he watched as her eyes widened and snapped down watching his hand grasp her wrist and begin to bring the hand up and between them, she looked back up at him, but noticed he was no longer starring at her, but her hand. She panicked and just as she was about to pull away, he brought her hand up a little higher and then placed an open palm beneath it. She blinked a few times, understanding, but trying to feign stupidity

"You can let go of it now Tenten" his gaze shot back up and he watched her glare at her paralyzed hand then bite her lip as if she was struggling, he couldn't help but admire how pink and plump her lips were or how soft they must be, he wanted to know, suddenly he felt cool metal touch his palm and he quickly snapped out of his thoughts, clutching onto it.

She then quickly took her hand and kunai away from him, and as she shuffled past him he heard her mumble "its just my muscles acting up.." as he watched her get her things then walk away, his eyes narrowed, scrutinizingly

_'muscles my ass'_

Tenten walked home, the late afternoon sun casting shadows everywhere, she suddenly turned around and threw a kunai at a tree, she froze breathing heavily, with a cold sweat at the back of her neck, she felt like her heart would burst out of its chest at any moment now. She swore she saw someone, she couldn't be mistaken, she hesitantly walked towards the tree to retrieve the weapon, she yanked it out and put it back in the pouch. She continued to eye the tree warily, as she walked backwards away from it. Then quickly turned around and ran the rest of the way home, a black figure appeared from behind the tree watching her leave, the light hit its face and a maniacal smile of white teeth was all that was seen. That night Tenten layed in bed silently, unmoving, she was under three blankets and had a fortress of pillows on top of her, since she arrived home, she'd felt insanely paranoid, especially now that it was dark and that she couldn't see anything. She swore someone was in the apartment, she could hear their heavy breathing, their muffled footsteps on the carpet, everything, yet every time she peeked from her place on the bed, she would only be met my darkness. She was terrified, she'd never felt such intense fear, she was shaking uncontrollably and being under all these covers made it hot, but she wouldn't leave the safety of her cocoon. The paranoia was driving her insane, she suddenly realized that she had to go to the bathroom, as she was about to move, she heard a noise and ceased her movements, she didn't know what to do, she had to go, but she was too scared to move and she couldn't just... Tenten was hesitant, her eyes began to glimmer with tears

_'there has to be another way, I just cant'_ another noise, this time it made her jump, she squeezed her eyes shut and held it for another hour.

_'I have to, I can't hold it anymore'_ so hesitantly, with complete disgust and embarrassment, Tenten soiled herself. She sobbed and cried as she did

_'I've hit rock bottom, I'm going crazy, somebody help me'_

* * *

Neji sat up with a start and a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, he looked around his dark room, then fell back against the bed with a sigh. He'd had a dream, a strange one, it was of Tenten, she was somewhere dark, and she was crying, but he didn't know why, he was confused and now worried. He quickly sat up and got in position to meditate

_'I need to clear my mind'_ he did sense a state of paranoia coming from her as she left, but he would've been mistaken, neither he nor Tenten slept that night. The next morning Tenten was out of her bed by 5 o clock, even though training didn't start till 7 she couldn't stand being in the apartment any longer and just wanted to get out. She immediately stripped the bed of the dirty sheets and blankets and put them in the hamper to remind her to wash, She then went to her bathroom and took a cold shower, she felt it wake her up better than a hot one, she was so tired, she didn't sleep at all last night, the dark circles under her eyes showed on her suddenly pale skin

she examined herself in the mirror _'I look ill'_ her eyes were slightly blood-shot, she ignored it though and went to change. Once she was done she looked at the clock and noticed she still had time before she left. She took out some of her tools and decided to sharpen them.

On her last kunai the tool somehow slipped through her hand, as it fell, it slit through her palm, Tenten lightly gasped at the sudden sting, but then quickly stood up to find some gauze to wrap it. As she walked into the bathroom she suddenly heard a very small _plip, plip, plip_, she looked around, not sure where it was coming from. She then looked down and almost screamed in horror at what she saw. Where she had cut her palm wasn't just slightly bleeding, she was gushing blood, but she wasn't even sure If it was blood, it wasn't a ruby or wine red but a sickening black. Tenten shook as she stared at her hand _'what's happening to me?'_ She quickly got some gauze and began to wrap and press firmly on the cut to stop the bleeding. After 20 minutes, it finally stopped, She quickly wrapped it up tightly and then left her apartment slightly cradling the hand. As she walked her right leg suddenly locked, almost making her fall over, but then unlocked causing her to stumble forward a bit

_'I can't keep this up, I need to tell someone, but who? They'll all think im crazy! I don't even know that if what's happening to me is even truly happening... maybe I'm just losing my mind...'_ so lost in her thoughts Tenten didn't even realized that she was beginning to near her team's training grounds, until she heard a loud voice yell

"TENTEN!"She looked up just in time to see Lee's face before he grabbed her into a bone crushing hug. The air left her longs as he continued squeezing her "Oh Tenten! I've missed you so!"

"Lee!" she choked out "y-you saw me yes-terday! Ack! Ca-can't breathe!"

Neji slowly walked up behind him "Lee, your suffocating her" he quickly released her and grabbed her shoulders at arm's length, his eyebrows shot up "youthful blossom are you ill? you do not seem to be well" her eyes widened slightly

_'shit, he noticed' _

"oh no, Lee! Just a bit under the weather! Nothing serious though or contagious! Dont worry about it really" she waved her hand dismissing it as nothing A smile came over Lee's face as he wrapped an arm around her neck

"Yosh! The power of youth shall always prevail!"

she sighed blowing up her bangs, _'this is going to be a long day'_

a smirk graced over Neji's features at her predicament, but in the back of his mind he knew things were wrong _'Tenten's not ill, I don't need a medic to tell me that, something else is wrong, is that a cut?'_ he raised a curious eyebrow at the gauze on her hand, he was about to ask her, but thought better of it _'later'_

Halfway through training and Tenten hit the wall again, she was exhausted, and she was hating herself for it. She just finished sparring with Neji and 2 or 3 times there were some definite close calls, she stood with her hands on her head pacing back and forth trying to calm her breath so it wasn't so obvious, but it was near impossible in the silence of Lee and Gai's temporary absence. Neji sat silently under a tree, meditating

_'at least his eyes are closed'_ a little while later Lee and Gai appeared,

"Tenten! My blossom! We will be training your aim today!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow "my aim?"

"yes! Your aim, we have not devoted much time to it as of late and I would like to see!" Gai gave her a big toothy grin

she shrugged her shoulders "alright" Lee jumped into the air with a fist and began to follow Tenten and Gai sensei while Neji silently followed. They arrived to an open field with a target a far way off from where they stood ready and waiting, she grabbed a kunai and got into position, focusing on her target she took a deep breath and then swung her arm and let go of it, it cut through the air with a slight whizz, and then the loud thunk resonated throughout the area. Gai whose eyes had widened in shock stared at the target, as did Lee's, even the usually stoic Hyuuga. They then turned their heads to stare at Tenten her eyes wide and her hands slightly shaking as she pierced the target with her gaze

'_I...i missed..'_ It was tru.e she did, instead of the kunai landing dead in the middle it was a few inches off, and that was unacceptable

"Tenten..." lee started "you mi-" he was cut off as Tenten held up her hand immediately silencing him. He and Neji saw the anger and determination suddenly flash in her dark eyes.

She flipped out another kunai, catching it with skill, and with a bit more concentration she got into her position and flung the kunai. Once again, a loud thunk was heard, but once again, her kunai was a few inches off.

She was livid "what?!" she hissed angrily, they watched as she began to stalk up to the target when suddenly, halfway through her journey, she froze, and with a strangled noise she fell to her knees and then collapsed to the ground, her cheek laying on the grass. Neji, Lee, and Gai quickly ran to her side Neji crouched next to her and placed his hand on her back, she was shaking violently, and had her teeth grit along with her eyes slightly squinted in what appeared to be pain.

"Tenten! What is it?! What ales you!" Lee shouted, but she didn't respond, instead it seemed a cold sweat had began to form on her face. Gai quickly, yet gently turned Tenten over on her back. Neji quickly noticed that her breathing wasn't normal she wasn't taking in enough breath, they were sharp and short, and her cheeks began to flush. He suddenly recalled the cut and looked down to see something bleeding through, but it didn't look like blood. He reached down and quickly unwrapped it, both Lee and Gai gasped at what they saw, it was a slit in her palm that had a purple hue surrounding it with a thick black fluid leaking from it.

Gai quickly stood "Lee, Neji, take Tenten to the hospital immediately I will go find lady Tsunade." he then left in a puff of smoke. Neji swiftly lifted Tenten's slightly stiff body into his arms bridal style and began to run with Lee next to him.

Tenten felt like her body was being beaten to a pulp from the inside, everything ached, and she could hear her heart beat in her ears, pumping the blood in her body, every now and then muscles would pulse causing worse pain to course through her, and yet she couldn't move.

Neji suddenly felt a grip on the front of his white shirt and heard a strangled voice "Neji..." he squeezed her arm letting her know he was there

"it's alright Tenten, were getting you help" He saw her head nod slightly, but then his eyes were taken from the path in front of him when he heard a strange gurgling noise, he continued running but looked down to see a mouthful of the black fluid, spill out of her mouth over her chin and down her neck staining her skin and shirt, her eyes were becoming glassy. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself to run faster

"Lee!" he turned to look at him "Pick up your pace and get to the hospital, have them ready for us!" "roger!" he was then gone in a cloud of dust _'every second counts'_ he thought bitterly as he heard the gurgling noise again.

Neji arrived soon after Lee with a corpse in his arms that was unfortunately Tenten. Tsunade immediately appeared with Gai and had a gurney with four doctors and three nurses to help. They grabbed Tenten and began to lay her down, when suddenly she convulsed and unintentionally rolled off landing on her hands and knees and violently vomiting the black substance, Neji and Lee quickly grabbed her and layed her down again

"come on people we don't have time to waste! LETS MOVE!"the doctors, with Tsunade ran down to the E.R. With team Gai hot on their heels. The nurses stayed to clean the black fluid, once Tenten was rushed into the emergency room they had to wait outside and only hope for the best, which wasn't easy for her loving team. 6 hours later, the light turned off and Tsunade appeared tired and disheveled, but with a tired smile nonetheless, all three men stood immediately, she held up a hand before they could say anything "she's in ICU right now, even though we were able to stabilize her, we can't say exactly what's wrong with her yet, but were not taking it lightly. She must rest for now, but you can visit her a bit later, I can't guarantee though that she'll be awake." Lee and Gai hugged each other with tears of joy streaming down their faces

Neji only politely bowed "thank you, Tsunade sama" the smiled warmly then left them to attend to other business.

* * *

Tenten awoke to the sound of a soft beep

_beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep_

She slowly began to open her eyes and the first thing she saw was a dark room, with moonlight flooding in through a window next to her hitting the wall she was facing to her left. It was white, and she noticed she was laying on something dark, she recognized it as her hair, she recalled the beeping again

_beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep_

She looked up slightly and saw a heart monitor with an I.V. Hanging next to it. She closed her eyes trying to remember exactly what happened, it came to her in snippets. She was suddenly cut from her thoughts when she began to feel a warm breath on her neck and a heavy pressure on her abdomen, she turned her head to look in front of her and met a horrifying sight, eye whites stared at her wide and sadistically, she screamed.

_** . . . .**_

Neji, shot out of his chair as he heard a familiar scream echo from the ICU,

_'Tenten'_ and she was screaming bloody murder. He took off in a sprint, determination set in his eyes.

Tenten struggled with the deformed hunch back on top of her he brought down his fist with an unusually large senbon in his hand ready to strike her heart. She gripped his wrist tightly, struggling to keep it from touching her

"don't be so stubborn child" he gripped her neck tightly with his other hand she let out a strangled scream, "I'm only going to put you out of you misery sooner!" she reached one hand to the one around her neck, but immediately regretted it when she suddenly felt his other hand begin to take the advantage, she went back to gripping his wrist tightly with both. He was still winning, the needle was coming closer and closer, the heart monitor was going insane from the panic she was feeling

_'somebody help me'_ she began to feel it touch her skin, when suddenly the door slammed open and she heard a familiar voice yell a familiar word

"JUKEN!" in a rush the weight on top of her was gone and she heard a loud crack with a thud. She gripped her throat and stared at the crumpled heap on the floor with wide eyes while hyperventilating.

She heard footsteps rush in and someone yell "seize that criminal!" three ANBU appeared and began to arrest the still conscious man, she then felt two hands seize her shoulders, turning her to stare into two pale orbs

"Tenten are you alright?" tears brimmed in her eyes as she uncharacteristically lunged at him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

Neji knew she wouldn't cry in front of others, so she only shook in his arms. He held her tightly and watched the ANBU roughly bring the man to his feet, Tsunade stood next to Neji at Tenten's side, they all began to hear a slight chuckle then soft laughter which quickly turned into maniacal; it filled the room, it came from the hunched back cripple, Tenten turned in Neji's arms and stared at the man, he looked up at her, the same whites sending chills down her spine.

"I was only trying to put the girl out of her misery, a quick death would be better than the slow and painful one she'll be put through in the next hours!"

"No one is dying here Ketzou, only you!" Tsunade was livid.

"i warned her father, if you have a child they will be born with poison, such a selfish man." the grin stayed on his face

"take him away" the ANBU began to drag him off

"A slow and painful death awaits you girl!" he yelled "DEATH IS ON YOUR DOORSTEP!"Tenten felt Neji's arms tighten around her and she only sunk deeper into his embrace.

Tsunade was silent, "Stay with her for now Neji, ill be back in two hours", he only nodded his head silently, She then quickly left leaving the two in the darkness of the room.

He began to shift and felt Tenten's tight grip only get stronger, "don't let go.." she meekly whispered he was still and then shifted himself into the bed next to her, there was surprise on her face as she felt him turn and press their bodies flush against one another, but she didn't complain, she only snuggled deeper against him.

_'God help us' _were his only thoughts.

* * *

Two hours later Tsunade returned to see Neji sitting next to Tenten who was laying on the bed pale as ever with a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, her cheeks were flushed pink and her mouth was slightly open gasping for air. Her eyes appeared glassy and doll-like and her chest heaved. She walked over and placed a hand on the stoic Hyuugas shoulder, his hand was tightly holding hers, she was shaking,

"Neji" he turned his face up to her and she frowned at the dead look he gave her "I need you to go find Lee, and Gai, bring them back to this hallway and meet me in room 208." he turned his head back to Tenten whose eyes began to squint in slight pain, she gripped his hand tighter Tsunade squeezed his shoulder "don't worry, ill take care of her" he seemed hesitant, but then closed his eyes and nodded his head. He gently released his grasp from Tenten's and heard a soft whimper of disapproval come from her,he knew he wouldn't be able to do this if he didn't move fast, he quickly stood and began to walk out ,Tsunade took his place and grabbed Tenten's hand "he'll be back" she squeezed her hand in reassurance.

* * *

Neji returned with Lee and Gai 30 minutes later, now standing in font of the room that Tsunade had asked them to meet her in. Gai took a step forward and knocked three times

they all heard a faint "enter" they opened the door and walked in to see Tenten laying on a gurney in a worst state from before, her skin was albino white, and her eyes looked dull not even holding a gloss to them anymore. Her cheeks had become a slight red, but her breathing was becoming deeper and sporadic. They walked over to Tsunade and mourned their team mates condition.

"From the information that the scientists have gathered, we have concluded that Tenten has a rare poison in her body, the only other person that has ever had it was her father, there was no cure for this poison"

"was?" questioned Neji

a dull smile came to Tsunade's lips "yes, because now, there is a cure, and it will be my first time ever performing it, but the process to removing the poison is long and painful. Which is why I've asked you three here, other than being her team mates you're all quite strong, Tenten being one of you so is she, at the moment she's weak, but still strong. I will need you to keep her held down while I do the cure, if not, she could hurt herself. Do you understand?" all three of the men nodded.

They all immediately took their places Gai held down her legs, while Lee gripped her arms, Neji was at her head holding the sides of her face to keep her from banging her head around and to keep her as calm as possible. Tsunade positioned her hands over Tenten's abdomen, Neji looked down and saw her half lidded eyes looking up at him, he began to soothingly run his thumb back and forth from her temple to her cheekbones and back, a small smile came to her still parted lips. It quickly went away though and began to contort into one of pain. Neji could slightly see Tsunade's glowing hands, It seemed she applied more force, like she was hesitant at first but knew now she couldn't be gentle. The moment she did Tenten immediately arched her spine and cocked her head back slightly, her eyes wide and her mouth opened letting out strangled breaths, her hands clenched and unclenched while her whole body shook, her back then slammed back into the table, she clenched her eyes shut in pain, and then grit her teeth, squirming slightly. She went back and forth between biting her lip and gritting her teeth to keep from screaming or making any noise, at certain times the black fluid from before would bubble up and spill from her mouth, she would cringe at the acidic feeling rising up her throat. Her movement went back and forth for 30 minutes, neither of her teammates could stand to look at her and see her pain, so they either closed their eyes or looked away.

Tsunade then warned them "were nearing the end, the last place is her heart, she might get... more violent, so be ready." They all silently nodded their head. She then moved her hands over Tenten's left breast, and the glowing of her hands increased, Tenten's back arched once again, but with much more bend, her head went back once again but this time her eyes were squinted in pain as her mouth opened in a silent scream, her hands were splayed out, tense and strained, Her legs fidgeted violently. Neji watched her chest rise once and then he looked back at her face to see tears streaming down the sides of her face as she clenched her eyes shut and then let out a blood curdling scream. He shut his eyes, it was all he could do to not cringe at the sound, the way she looked was like something out of a horror movie, as time went on she began to fruitlessly struggle against their grasps wanting to escape the pain "hold her!" Tsunade yelled. After 15 minutes of restraining her the glowing of Tsunade's hands ceased, and Tenten immediately went limp in all their grasps, she was unconscious.

They let go and starred at their exhausted teammate, "come" Tsunade began to leave with something "we must let her rest" they followed behind her while nurses and doctors rushed in to Tenten's side.

* * *

Later they arrived in Tsunade's office and as she sat in her desk with the three men in front of her she held up a decent sized glass jar that was almost full with the black liquid from before

"this" she gestured to it "is what was inside of Tenten's body"

"how was this poison never discovered before?" Gai questioned

Tsunade closed her eyes as he laced her finger in front of her face" It has a mind of its own so it hibernated in her body, hiding away, then when it saw the time fit it came out, and would slowly fester away at her body, it had to be stripped from her muscles, bone, bone marrow, even her blood, it was becoming a part of her DNA, it explains why her father never knew he had it till it was too late, and Tenten was born"

there was a short silence before Lee asked "will she make a full recovery?"

Tsunade nodded her head "yes it will take a few days of resting and some blood transfusions, but other than that she should be on her feet again by sometime next week."

Lee and Gai were practically crying tears of joy as they leapt over her desk and almost knocked the woman out of her chair with an embrace "THANK YOU TSUNADE FOR CURING MY YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM!" "YES THANK YOU TSUNADE SAMA FOR SAVING OUR YOUTHFUL TEAMMATE!"

"GET OFF ME!" During the struggle Neji nearly smiled, bowed in thanks and then quickly left leaving poor Tsunade to fend for herself

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NO TOUCHING TO YOU TWO!"

* * *

Tenten awoke once again in her hospital room, but this time she was met by sunlight '_what happened?' _she closed her eyes and began to think getting flashes and then full moments, she shuddered at the memories.

"you're awake" she snapped her head to the side to see Neji sitting in a chair next to he,r gazing at her, she almost gasped at the sight of his eyes, the usually emotionless orbs were burning with feelings she'd never truly seen from him, just as she opened her mouth to speak he suddenly leaned in and grabbed her in an open-mouthed kiss. She was caught off guard as he slithered his tongue into her mouth and began to stroke hers, she gasped at the feeling and tightly held on to the front of his pristine robes, he began to lean in more and more till she felt her back meet a soft surface with a warm heat on top of her. They heatedly kiss, he devoured her lips like they were an oasis. The feel of her small body below his, squirming in pleasure, God he just couldn't stand it. They soon pulled away as a thin string of saliva stayed on their lips, he looked at her with half lidded eyes, her hair was tousled and splayed on the white pillow beneath her while her cheeks were a furious red, no longer from sickness, but a completely different reason that he couldn't help but smirk at causing her cheeks to get darker. Her half lidded eyes were their warm dark chocolate filled with light once again, her skin glowed as he finally rested his gaze on her swollen pink lips. He leaned in once again and pressed a gentle kiss to her petal soft lips then whispered against them "I'll always protect you" her eyes brimmed with tears "i know"

* * *

**So what'd you guys think? Review please! I will take criticism, please be honest!**


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